Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Researchers Study Homosexual Behavior In Golden Monkeys

Researchers at the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve were surprised to find on Nov. 29 that there are homosexual golden monkeys in their research base.

A few days ago, researchers at the Dalongtan Golden Monkey Scientific Research Base in Shennongjia followed the monkeys to observe their social behaviors as usual. A strange scene shocked them and they found that an adult male monkey called "Da Yang" quickly walked up behind another male monkey named "Yi Zuo Mao" and tightly held his waist.

"Yi Zuo Mao" immediately gave a response to "Da Yang" just like female monkeys do to initiate mating. Then, both monkeys gave gestures that were the same as those that occur during mating.

This scene made researchers note that the behavior had happened before under a complex background. Therefore, it was difficult to identify whether it was homosexual behavior. However, a series of clear actions this time made it clear that their behavior was in fact homosexual behavior between golden monkeys.

In the next few days, researchers also observed several homosexual acts among golden monkeys and there was a higher probability of homosexual activity among male monkeys than female monkeys. Researchers studied the phenomenon and analyzed that this has much to do with the social structure of golden monkeys.